Last year's release of the Hellboy movie made him almost a household name,
at least if you lived in a household like mine. But long before the
live action version was a twinkle in Guillermo del Toro's eye, the comic
book version was the creation of Mike Mignola.

Graphitti Designs actually did a comic book Hellboy many years ago, but
fans were still left wanting, especially since the comics by Mignola had
such a diverse bunch of interesting characters, just begging for the plastic
treatment.

Mezco stepped up this last year
and picked up the license, about the same time that they picked up the movie
license. You might remember what an amazing job they did on the 8"
line, and the 18" version for the film. They've followed that up
with the first series of comic figures, including several variants of
Hellboy, Liz, Lobster Johnson, and the big monkey Kriegaffe. But the
one I simply couldn't resist, no matter how hard I tried, was the 18"
version.

You can find this big guy at your local Media Play or Sam Goody for
around $40, or check out the online suggestions I have at the end of the
review.

Packaging - ***1/2The box is nice and sturdy, with a large window to see Hellboy in all
his glory. The artwork around the box and on the interior tray is
straight from the comic, done in traditional unique Mignola style.

The box isn't collector friendly, and you'll want to have those little
cutters handy for all the twisty ties. But MIBBers should be happy
with the size and sturdiness of the box.

The sculpt from Mezco has captured that look perfectly. If you're a
big fan, I can't imagine you being happier with the look of this
figure. The Right Hand of Doom has about the right amount of detailing
and styling to match up with the comic, and the soft good - the jacket,
holster and belt - work terrific with the plastic body and extras.
This is a gorgeous sculpt, and I don't say that about too many figures.

Getting him to stand is a bit of a trick, but you can duck foot him and
get him to do it without the help of his tail. Actually, if you rely
on his tail, you can get him to stand very, very easily.

The left hand is sculpted to hold the gun, so he looks best with the
weapon drawn. It's a little tricky getting the gun to slip in between
his fingers, but once you get it in there, it stays pretty well.

Paint - ****
The paint ops do a marvelous job of complimenting the excellent
sculpt. The lines are clean and neat, with some great masking
work. There's no bleed or slop, even around tricky areas like the eyes
and beard.

The red is consistent across the body, and there's a very light wash to
bring out the details. Small detail work, like the stripes on the
shorts, are very neat and well done, and there is even some use of different
finishes to give the impression of different materials.

Articulation - ***
HB isn't super articulated, but what's here is all very useful and
important.

There's a ball jointed neck, but the ball has very, very little range of
movement, so it works pretty much like a cut joint. The shoulders and
hips are also ball jointed, but again don't have the kind of range of
movement in something like a 12" figure. Still, they work better
than you might expect with a rotocast figure.

There/s also cut joints at the biceps, a cut left wrists, a ball right
wrist, a cut waist and cut thighs and calves. Overall, it's enough
articulation to make a variety of poses possible, but not enough to take
away from the sculpt.

Ah, I almost forgot! There's that bendy tail as well, which you'll
find very handy for keeping him standing. And yes, you can get him to
stand without it, but it's just so much easier if you get lazy and use it.

Accessories - ****
I'm going to through his outfit in here, rather than have a separate
category, since there's only a couple pieces.

The outfit consists of the cloth jacket, which is tailored extremely
well. That's one of the advantages of the quarter scale - cloth,
buttons and snaps look right when you get this large.

The jacket also has two different materials, which is fairly
unusual. The color is made from a faux leather, while the rest of the
coat resembles a heavier weave. The pockets aren't real, which was a
little disappointing, but it looks so good it was easy to forgive.

His other major accessory is his gun, designed and sculpted in that same
rough, almost Flintstone style. The barrel is bored out as well,
giving the gun a little more reality. The gun fits nicely in the faux
leather holster on his belt, and the flap closes with a metal snap.

The belt also has a great metal snap for the buckle, and you can remove
it fairly easily if you'd like. The belt contains a variety of
sculpted pouches, along with his rosary and his horseshoe.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
If you're kids saw the movie, it would be a great way to introduce them to
the comics. This comic version might be something they really enjoy,
and for the most part, it will hold up to basic play pretty well. Of
course, they might damage the belt or attached goodies if they aren't
careful, but with basic care he should be okay.

Value - ***This figure runs around $40, the usual cost for a rotocast quarter scale
figure. But he includes several accessories as well, something most do
not, and he is simply amazing on top of that.

Things to watch out for -
Be a little careful taking the gun out of the holster and putting it
back. It's a tight fit, but with some care you should have no problem
at all.

Overall - ****This is pretty hard to believe - two four star figures in the last
week! Considering I only give a dozen or so a year on average out of
over 200 reviews, it's pretty unusual to have two so close together.

But this figure is simply fantastic. If you're a collector of
18" figures, pick this one up. If you're a huge fan of Hellboy,
grab this now. If you're looking for a big red guy with cloven feet
and a trenchcoat to accessorize your new living room, this is the figure for
you.

I can always tell when a figure is as great as I think it is - it's
always photogenic as well. You can't take a bad photo of this guy,
it's just not possible!

Having my older stuff in storage is driving me nuts, since I would have
loved to shoot this guy with the 18" movie Hellboy. I can't wait
to get things back out again so that these two guys can share a shelf.

Where to Buy -
There are actually three versions of this 18" guy - the one I reviewed
here, this regular version with a gritted teeth head sculpt, and a 'battle
damated' version that's a Diamond excluse. Online options for these
include: